Bibimbap, BBQ, Bulwer Street: Ongrill opens in Highgate

While a long-hyped opening is certainly cause for much celebration – when something a little more under-the-radar catches our eye? We consider that a huge win!

We’ve been keeping an eye on the Bulwer Street spot formerly home to the much-loved Nine Japanese Bistro – which closed in August after an impressive 20 years of omakase.

A stroll in Highgate over the weekend meant an impromptu discovery: Ongrill have finally opened their doors, bringing custom bowls of bibimbap to Bulwer Street, alongside BBQ platters and other Korean bites.

“Korean tradition meets Aussie vibes” is how they put it, which we reckon is a pretty apt description – so although the menu is, broadly speaking, Korean, they’ve got a pretty free-wheeling, cuisine-melding approach to flavour.

There’s nowhere that this approach is more evident than in their custom bibimbap. Pick your base (white or mixed pearl barley rice, quinoa rice or potato noodles), then your protein: beef bulgogi, jeyuk pork belly, soy chicken, butter garlic prawn or grilled tofu. Then, let your imagination run wild with the geographically-vast array of toppings on offer, which run the gamut from caramelised kimchi, tobiko and onsen eggs, to guacamole and bocconcini – not to mention sauces ranging from spicy gochugang and samjang mayo to scallion pesto and miso vinaigrette.

The small bites menu, while limited, still manages to tick off plenty of the casual Korean flavours you’d hope for (soy chicken wings, pan-fried dumplings, tteobokki and more), but the signature Ongrill Platter makes a pretty convincing argument to take the night off cooking. Alongside a selection of kimchi coleslaw, veg sticks, ssam, rice or chips plus scallion pesto and samjang mayo, platters are loaded with a selection of three ($75) or four ($99) Korean BBQ meats – beef bulgogi, jeyuk pork belly, soy chicken, beef short ribs. And just a block away from Hyde Park, who knew you could enjoy KBBQ at a picnic?

Ongrill is located at 227 Bulwer Street, Perth, and is open Monday-Saturday 10AM-8PM.